They want to do WHAT to my antiques? (Arlington: rental, insurance)

[Patapsco]

Hi, everyone -

Here's the question du jour:

Today I finally got to speak with the moving company we are required by our relocation company to use.

We have a furnished rental waiting for us up there.
We're moving out of here & all our stuff will be stored by the moving company, and then when we buy, they move it to our new house.

Well, turns out they load it into "vaults", which are basically huge wooden crates, that they then stack on top of each other in an UN-CLIMATE CONTROLLED warehouse.

I'm concerned about this generally, but especially for a few antique pieces I have. One is a dresser that was my great, great grandmothers, and I have a corner cupboard that was my great,great,great,great grandparents. Sitting in some crate in a warehouse with no humidity or temperature control (and probably shrinkwrapped at that) is making me VERY nervous.

is this typical? Anyone have any experience with this? Did their furniture survive ok? Or not?

Any thoughts/experience would be greatly appreciated, as always.

Thanks,
Kim

[Lindsey_Mcfarren]

I would not allow my things to be treated in this way. When I have had to put my stuff into storage, I have always put it in a climate controlled storage unit.

Of course depending where you are, your furniture could be really damaged by this.

I have had wood veneers pull apart and warp even though they were pretty thick. I can't imagine how much damage you might incur. I would contact the people that bring pods to your home, I believe where those are stored is climate controlled and I would rather be out a little money then let my stuff get ruined.

[Barkingowl]

I've gone the cube route. If you do the cubes or the pods make sure that everything is extremely well secured. You don't want anything to shift during the move. My brother, on the other hand, went with a relo mover & had them pack his antiques. I was aghast to see them packing porcelain by rolling it in newspaper & putting it in cardboard boxes. He had everything in a warehouse for a year. I don't know if it was climate controlled or not, but I seriously doubt it.

I agree with Lindsey. You should spend the extra money to make sure that your antiques survive the move & that you can enjoy them in your new home.

[haberstroh]

We did this this summer and had all our household goods in a so-called "climate controlled" ware house. We had it stored in NJ for about 3 months in the summer. I don't think that the climate issue is so critical if it is indeed heated and/or cooled. (Make sure it is or get a different mover). The problem is that they basically have to move your stuff two more times, once from the truck to the ware house and then from storage onto the ruck to deliver it to you. This is usually done by ware house workers that did not do your original move. Our move was a nightmare and we choose not the cheapest bidder (we paid $8500 from NJ to MA for a 3 BDR house, no cars). A lot of our furniture was broken or bend, especially the things that were not packed in boxes, like floor lamps, bigger toys...Our claim was several thousands of dollars. So make sure you get good insurance (full replacement with low or no deductible). Also our movers used this super cheap tape that did not come off from a lot of things. Hard to believe that such simple things are important. I feel for you! Moving is so stressful.

[Powersails]

Don't let them do it. I learned my lesson from one of my sisters who moved from Vermont to Tiburon, Ca. They stored her furniture in the town of Novato, where it gets incredibly hot in the summer, and the damage to her antiques was extensive. An antiques dealer and restorer in San Francisco told her that it was due to the change in humidity levels and the heat of the Novato summer.

When I moved out to San Diego from Vermont I contacted an antiques dealer who put me in touch with a company that crated, shipped and stored my furniture in a climate controlled warehouse and I had absolutely no problems. This can be incredibly expensive if you have many antique furnishings; however, if it's just a couple of pieces it will be much more cost effective. Hope this helps, and good luck with your move.

[Lindsey_Mcfarren]

Originally Posted by Barkingowl

I've gone the cube route. If you do the cubes or the pods make sure that everything is extremely well secured. You don't want anything to shift during the move. My brother, on the other hand, went with a relo mover & had them pack his antiques. I was aghast to see them packing porcelain by rolling it in newspaper & putting it in cardboard boxes. He had everything in a warehouse for a year. I don't know if it was climate controlled or not, but I seriously doubt it.

I agree with Lindsey. You should spend the extra money to make sure that your antiques survive the move & that you can enjoy them in your new home.

Newspaper???

I brought a bunch of breakables, old dishes and so forth my Mother and Grandmother collected over the years. I was able to find a place in Arlington Texas that sold HUGE rolls of bubble wrap. Most of what I packed into the largest U-haul trailor they have was breakable and NOT one thing was broken when I unpacked it here.

[Patapsco]

Hi -

Thanks for the warnings/war stories. It will give teeth to my argument to my husband. He's all about just going along, everything will be fine. And usually it is.

But I'm not going to risk my generations-old antiques. Even if I insured it for a million dollars, it's not like you can go buy family heirlooms.

Thanks for the great suggestion of finding movers/store-ers from antiques dealers. That's brilliant!

We are STUCK using this mover. It's our only option b/c of our relocation company.

ACk!

[haberstroh]

I understand the issue with the relocation company that dictates who will move you. I know from friends though that you sometimes can choose from 3 different movers. Is there any way they can bring your belongings in a climatized ware house and you pay for the difference?
Also one more war story from our move (if I may): When the movers arrived I was a little concerned about the size of the truck and if it would all fit (it was the largest truck they had). They assured me it would. The next day after is was all packed up and all boxes were in the truck, they were all sticking out maybe 10 inches and the door would not close. So the 4 polish guys simply leaned into them hard and pushed them all in and slammed the door shut. No wonder my stuff was all bent :-)
And the foreman had the nerve to ask for a tip. He indeed had "suggested" 10% of the original estimate which was $6000. So their tip (for four people) would have been $600!!! I gave them each $50 which I thought was a lot! Probably another reason my goods were broken ;-)

[momoffive]

and the fact that they are polish plays into this story how????

[Lindsey_Mcfarren]

Originally Posted by Patapsco

Hi -

Thanks for the warnings/war stories. It will give teeth to my argument to my husband. He's all about just going along, everything will be fine. And usually it is.

But I'm not going to risk my generations-old antiques. Even if I insured it for a million dollars, it's not like you can go buy family heirlooms.

Thanks for the great suggestion of finding movers/store-ers from antiques dealers. That's brilliant!

We are STUCK using this mover. It's our only option b/c of our relocation company.

ACk!

I am an anxious type person. The upheavel of moving is bad enough without having to worry about your belongings especially if they are things that are valuable to you. For me personally, its just not worth it. I need to make every aspect of the process as calm and worry free as posible since the very act of packing and moving stresses me.

I have alot of very old antiques, furniture, tapestry, paintings, dishes, I wouldn't trust just anyone with them, some have been in my family for 100 years now.